Mechanical massaging device



July 8 1924i.

S. B. FLEMI'NG MECHANICAL MAssAGING DEVIQ'E 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 6,v 1914 my 8.1m.- y

S. B. FLEMING MECHANICAL MASSAGING DEVICE Filed April 6, 1914 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented July 8, 1924.

SAMUEL B. FLEMING, QF CHICAGO,` ILLINCIS; L. FLORENCE FLEMING, EXECUTRIX OF THE WILL OF SAMUEL B. FLEMNG, DECEASED, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO GARDNER REDUCING MACHNE COMPANY, F CHICAGO, IiLINO'IS.

MECHANICAL MASSAGING DEVICE.

' Application led April 6, 1914. Serial No. 829,824.

T0 ail whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, SAMUEL B. FLnuiNG,

`a citizen of the United States, and resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State oi' Illinois, have invented certain new and useful improvements in a Mechanical Massaging Device, of which the following is a specification.

My inventionV relates to massaging del0 vices and has particular reference to a novel, mechanical, reciprocatory device adapted to act upon the human body.

It is a well known factthat many ailments of the human body may be relieved l5 by massaging or rubbing and this has heretofore, I believe, been universally-performed by hand. Massaging manually performed lacks uniformity in the-force applied and is limited to the strength and endurance of l0 the operator. Certain massaging operations should be continued for a considerable length of time and be uniformly carried out both as to the extent of force employed and as to the point to which such force is directed.

I have therefore devised a machine by means of which the body may be massaged as desired, the extent of pressure vand the extent of time through which such pressure is applied being readily controllable. Such a machine contemplates a series of rollers or massaging devices, oppositely mounted and adapted for horizontal reciprocation, one of said series of rollers being mounted for transverse adjustment whereby the extent of pressure against the body may be lcontrolled. The rollers carried by the reciprocatory devices will be located in a desired proximity to each other and have a conliguration corresponding to the portion of the body to be massaged if desired.

The invention will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein,

Fig. 1 is an elevation partly in section through my novel massaging device showing the outline of a human form in position thereon;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same device;

'Fig 3 is aside elevation of the device;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section through one of the rollers, and,

' Fig. 5 is a similar view showing a modified form of roller. l

A13. The standards are retracted by means of a spring 14, and advanced by means .of the bell-crank 15, cov-operating with the slotted standard 15a, a cable 16, connected to the bell-crank constituting the means Jfor advancing and retracting the standards as required. The cable 16 will'extend to a Referring more particularly to the drawl `ings it Vwill be seen that on a base 10, is

The base also point where it is readily-controlled by the operator. Located at a suitable point in the base is a stand 4or table 17, adjustable as to height in any suitable manner such Aas by inserting or removing sections thereof, on which the person to be treated may stand or sit.

Mounted in guideways 18, in the standards 11, are vertically adjustable supports 19, these supports carrying upper and lower tracks 20, 21. The massaging rollers 22, are mounted on spindles 23, carried bv a channel member 24, to the back of which a plurality of supporting rollers 25, are secured. These rollers or wheels co-operate with the track members 20, 21, and provide for the easy reciprocation of the channel member which carries the rollers. A hood or housing 26, covers the track at the top,.

a similar hood 27, being provided at the bottom. As shown in the modified form of Fig. 5, the rollers 28, may be concaved if desired; or they may have straight faces, as shown in Fig. il, or be convexed, the configuration of the roller depending solely on the portion of the anatomy to be operated upon. As a means for causing the reciprocation of the rollers, I provide connecting rods 29, 30, actuated by the large gears 31, 82, these gears being connected by suitable reduction gearing 33, to a motor, (not shown). Preferably the connecting rods are mounted on the gears 180o from each other whereby the reciprocation of the rollers is in opposite directions.

The end of the connecting rod 29 co-operates with a shaft 311, secured to the sidewise movable roller-carrying member and is adapted to slide on such shaft to permit the sidewise adjustment of this portion of the device.

Preferably also I provide stops 35, adjustable by means of the handle 36, whereby the inward movement of the sidewise movable rollers may be limited against the possibility of accident due to actuation of the cable The handle 36 is in the form of a bellcrank, the extension 37 being connected by a link 38 to the stop 35, the stop being held in the desired position by the reciprocation of the handle 36, with a notched segment 39 rigid With the frame.

In the exemplification shown in Fig. l, the .patient is standing and straps 37, are

vprovided to assist in maintaining a vertical position against the action of the machine. In some instances it may be found desirable to act only upon the back of the atient, in Which case the sideWise adjusta le rollers Will beretracted and the patient seated upon a stool With the back against the movable rollers.l y

` The construction herein described is an exempliiication only of other forms in which the device may be constructed and'I do not therefore Wish to be limited to the exact oonstruction herein described.

I claim: l. In a mechanical massaging device, the

combination of a base, standards projecting lfrom said base, one series o f said standards being movable relative to the other thereof, a roller support adjustably mounted on each of said standards, rollers'carried by said roller supports, and mechanical means for reciprocating said rollers in opposite directions, substantially as described.

2. In a mechanical massaging device, the combination of a base, standards projecting from said base, oneseries of standards being movable relative to the other thereof,

inwardly facing roller supports vertically` adjustable on said standards, rollers carried by said supports, and mechanical means for reciprocating said rollers, substantially as described. A

3. In a mechanical massaging' device, the combination of a base, standards projecting from said base, roller supports mounted on said standards, means for adjustingV said supports vertically a series of rollers carried by said supports, and means for reciprocat- 

